If...a common fishing word

If...the most common fishing word. It can be uttered at any moment during the day, or even wake you in the middle of the night. If can haunt you at work, or even rear it's ugly head many years down the line...just like your girlfriend reminding that you screwed the dog and reiterates the mistakes you made way back in the Pleistocene Age. If is that strong a word!

We all qualify for this category of mistakes, the never ending list of If grows exponentially every fishing day that passes. Remember that lunker you lost opening day worm dunking at the put and take pond when you were six years old? The poor rainbow may have only gone a pound at best, but you still curse yourself for not untangling the rat's nest from last year. Believing that the tangle, reminiscent of the nappy dreadheaded youth that made your sandwich today at Subway, would not hinder your fishing ability. How far could one of those anemic pellet fed mealy creatures run anyway? Well, a little farther than you had anticipated. That's for damn sure. It may have been the first time you screamed an expletive in front of your uncle. But, it's cool, he's your uncle, not your mom. So, therefore you dodged the inevitable toothbrush and Irish Spring mouth cleansing. If only I would have...

If haunts us to this very moment. If you desire a full nights sleep, discontinue reading now. Can we even begin to count the number of times we have performed fishing acts that keep our fishing pals in stitches. Here are a few examples of the two letter word If...

• If I only would have been paying attention to my bobber.
• If I would have gotten out of bed and not missed the last Trico hatch of the year.
• If I would not have gambled my last $18 dollars in that Keno machine, I could chug another PBR.
• If I would have changed/cleaned my flyline I could actually reach that big brown.
• If I did not waste my winter watching Survivor with my wife, and practiced casting instead, I could actually reach that big brown.
• If I would have booked my fly fishing trip earlier, I would not have to listen to this out of area guide blame the poor fishing, while all the boats around you are doubled up, on the angle of sun, wrong water temperature, full moon last night, blah, blah, blah...
• If I would stop listening to my fishing partner, who has been fishing all of two hours longer than I, and start listening to my guide...who really is on my team. Note: You ever notice the first guy to boat a fish is immediately the expert? This is a phenomenon throughout the fishing world, and golf from my understanding.
• If October was 6 months long, as opposed to only a month, just think how many calm, overcast, a little moisture in the air, 45 degree Baetis days a guy could have?
• If I did not have a job, was a Lotto winner, I could fish any day I wanted. I'd hire guides for all of eternity. Sitting in the middle of the boat is for suckers.
• If I would not have left that new rod on the roof, it would not have been run over and I would not have to lie to my wife about the missing $650 in our checking account.
• If I would have bought that cool Simms Rain Jacket, I would not be so blasted wet.
• If I could just go fishing more...boy that's a nice thought...I could quit that lame Yoga class and let the subtle sounds of the river be my physiological leader.

Second guessing is probably a recipe for disaster...but don't deny the term If. Denial is a terrible emotion. If is a word that should lead us to a positive outcome. If we do not learn from our mistakes we become foolish. Put your self in successful situations and decrease the number of If that occur this year. It is quite funny to think about the long list of If in our lives. That's how you have to look at it, water under the bridge. If...it really is a common fishing word.